Cable TV is dying

Cable TV has degenerated into one big reality TV mush. Channels that once had their mandate clearly spelled out for them (History channel) now desperately throw ANYTHING on the screen in the hope of ratings.

Older TV-raised diehards like myself shake my head, now question the value of subscribing to cable TV, and watch stuff online. Younger people, who never had a cable subscription fail to see the value of ever subscribing. And watch stuff online.

6 responses to “Cable TV is dying”

The problem with cable television, Vinny, isn’t cable television but rather the fact that cable providers (Time Warner, Comcast, etc.) are greedy bastards.

Basic cable service is cheap enough, especially when you get their three-in-one deals (cable TV, phone, Internet). But with basic cable TV you get only a few cable TV networks, many of them with programming that isn’t exactly riveting.

When you upgrade the number of cable networks available through your cable box, that’s when cable providers stuff the ol’ Hoover tube into your wallet, selling you the cable networks you might want (HBO, Showcase, Comedy Central, ESPN, MSNBC, etc.) but only if you also pay for a bundle of cable networks you’ll never, ever watch, including, in my case, Fox, The Weather Channel, History Channel, Animal Planet, TLC, Lifetime, Cartoon Network, Nickelodeon, TV Land, Golf Channel, SoapNet, to name only a few.

There’s no way around the system, of course. I need broadband Internet access. And I like a few premium cable networks. So every month I grit my teeth and send a check.

As for watching cable TV online, I’ve never tried it. Maybe that’s a partial answer. Seems to me that I’d still have to be a subscriber and still have to pay the monthly bills I dislike so much.

Choose Life. Choose a job. Choose a career. Choose a family. Choose a fucking big television, choose washing machines, cars, compact disc players and electrical tin openers. Choose good health, low cholesterol, and dental insurance. Choose fixed interest mortgage repayments. Choose a starter home. Choose your friends. Choose leisurewear and matching luggage. Choose a three-piece suit on hire purchase in a range of fucking fabrics. Choose DIY and wondering who the fuck you are on Sunday morning. Choose sitting on that couch watching mind-numbing, spirit-crushing game shows, stuffing fucking junk food into your mouth. Choose rotting away at the end of it all, pissing your last in a miserable home, nothing more than an embarrassment to the selfish, fucked up brats you spawned to replace yourselves. Choose your future. Choose life… But why would I want to do a thing like that? I chose not to choose life. I chose somethin’ else. And the reasons? There are no reasons. Who needs reasons when you’ve got heroin?

I Cut the Cord last week on Time Warner cable. I am 45 years old with 2 children who didn’t care one bit that I cut the cord. In fact they laughed when I was on the phone with Time Warner, while they were on their laptops. One son had our basement television on while I was on the phone with Time Warner and I aked “what channel are you watching” and he said let me check….ummm channel 11. I was watching channel 2 upstairs and my other son was on his laptop and not watching television at all. Channel 2 and 11 in my region are FREE channels, which made the decision that much easier.

Here’s what we have now; CLEAR 4G WiFi Internet in-home ($35/mth), Internet-Ready TV, Netflix subscription ($7.99/mth). As opposed to $175/mth for Cable TV, with limited movies and hardly any channels that I watch.

All major sports playoff games are already on FREE TV and the few games that I might want to watch that are on cable, I watch at the local bar. (or not at all). People forget that TV is still FREE. What happened when Cablevision and Fox had their spat and Cablevision customers went nuts because they couldn’t watch the World Series, which by the way was on Channel 5 (FREE TV). People forgot that Channel 5 was FREE and the simply needed an antenna.

Once people “remember” that TV IS already FREE they will Cut the Cord.

It’s not rocket science that Cable is looking in the tunnel and seeing the light. the light just happens to be an oncoming train.

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